Sheet-delivery mechanism.



M. A. 1111011001111. SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM. APPLICATION rum) r1112. 24, 1911.

Patented Nov.21, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

[NVENTOR 6W @zobza d l w COLUMBIA FLkNDORAPl-I cm, WASHINGTON, D. c.

M; A. DROITGOUR. SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 11BX24, 1911.

Patented N0v.21, 1911.

4 BHEETSSHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH C0-,WASHIN|JTON,' D. c.

M. A. DRO-ITCOUR. SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM.

- APPLICATION I'ILED FEB. 24, 1911.- v I 1 ,OO9,491 Patented Nov. 21, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

v M; A. DROITGOUR.

SHEET DELIVERY MEGHANISM.

APPLIOAT ON I 1,009,491. I 24 Patented N0 v.2l, 1911.

" 4 SKEB'I'B-SISET 4. v

' WITNESSES c NI/ENTOR By Quay COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0,. WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

MICHAEL ANDREW DROITCOUR, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MIE-HLE PRINTING'PRESS AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SHEET-DELIVERY MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL ANDREW DRoITooUR, of Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Delivery Mechanisms; and I here by declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement in sheet delivery mechanism for rotary printing presses and other sheet handling machines; its object is to'provide a reciprocatory sheet delivery mechanism whereby the sheets may be taken from the press tapes, at the speed at which they are brought forward by such tapes, and carried to and over a receiving table and then dropped tliereon; the delivery mechanism simply withdrawing from beneath the sheet, after it is brought over the table, and per mitting the sheet to drop gently upon the table. The carriage upon which the sheet is supported is preferably withdrawn from beneath the sheet slowly, so that the sheet may be deposited upon the pile, or dropped from the carriage, more slowly than it is brought outward by the tapes and carriage; and the parts are preferably so arranged that the carriage will come to a rest when it reaches the end of its inward stroke long enough to enable the sheet .to entirely drop out of the way before the carriage commences its neXt outward stroke; thus giving the sheet ample time to settle out of the way before the carriage starts outward with another sheet. By this delivery mechanism a sheet can be taken from the tapes to and over the delivery table at the full surface speed of the cylinder; but the carriage may be then withdrawn from beneath the sheet at a much slower speed to permit the sheet to drop slowly and completely out of the way'of the carriage before it begins its outward stroke-with a new sheet.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one form of mechanism embodying the invention and, in connection with the following description, will enable any one familiar with the art to construct and use the same; but the invention is not restricted to the particular mechanism or proportions of Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV, 21, 1911. Application filed February 24, 1911.

Serial No. 610,543.

parts shown; and I refer to the claims for summaries of the essential features of the invention for which protection is desired. 2 In said drawingsFigure 1 is a detail side elevation partly in section, of part of :a printing press, showing the delivery carriage in sheet receiving position. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the delivery mechanism partly broken away, in innermost position. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the delivery mechanism in outermost position. Fig. 4: is an enlarged detail plan view of part of the delivery mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail.

The invention is applicable to many well known forms of rotary printing presses, and other machines, from which sheets are to be delivered flat. I have indicated the invention as applied to a fiat-bed rotary cylinder press, of the well known Miehle typeand as the construction of such press is so well understood it is not necessary to give any explanation'thereof.

The sheet may be brought forward from the impression cylinder C on endless tapes T, T, running over pulleys t, t, on shafts t t which are mounted upon the frame of the press as usual. Extending rearwardly from the outer ends of these tapes to and over the delivery table D, are bars 1 upon which are mounted a reciprocating carriage composed ofopposite side members .2 provided with grooved wheels 2* by which they are supported and guided upon the bars or ways 1. The members 2 may be provided on their under sides with racks 2 which mesh with gears 3 on a transverse shaft 3 which is oscillated, by means hereinafter described, so as to move the carriage back and forth under the press tapes and over the delivery table.

Mounted in the side members 2 of the carriage is a transverse shaft 4 which carries fly sticks 4 which are adapted to underlie the upper run of the lower tapes and to receive and support the sheet as it is discharged from the tapes during the outward movement of the carriage, Also mounted in the carriage in advance of the shaft 4 is a shaft 5 carrying a delivery roller 5 which is adapted to assist in forwarding the sheet from the tapes T, and to discharge the latter from the fly sticks as hereinafter explained.

carriage way 1 in such position that when the carriage approaches the inner end of its stroke roller 5 runs onto cam 1 and causes shaft 5 to rock and thereby move rollers 5 upward and away from roller 5; but on the outward movement of the carriage roller 5 descends on cam 1 and permits rollers 5 to lower into contact with roller 5. To prevent chattering a spring 5 may be connected to an arm 5 on shaft 5 (Fig. 2) and to a point on the carriage 2, whichspring will serve to hold the rollers 5 in contact with roller 5, except when the rollers are scparatedby action of cams 1.

Below one end of roller 5 is a friction gear or rubber surfaced roller 6, which is mounted 011 the end of a stub shaft 6, journaled in an arm 6 on a compound lever (6, 6, 6 hung on shaft 4c. On the outer end of this shaft 6 is a roller 6 around which is wrapped a belt or rope 6 stretched between hangers 1 and 1 on the adjacent way 1, so that as the carriage is reciprocated on said ways the roller 6 moves along the belt 6 and is caused to turn, and thus imparts rotary motion to the friction gear 6.

During the outward movement of the carriage friction roller or gear 6 is kept out of contact with the roller 5 by means of the arm 6 of the compound lever (6, 6, 6) which arm 6 extends inwardly and has a curved notch 6 in its inner end which is normally engaged by a roller 6 on the end of a rod 6 which is slidably mounted in guides 2 attached to the adjacent member of the carriage; and a spring 6 is inter posed between one of these guides and a collar 6 on the rod 6 and presses the rod normally toward arm 6 and into engagement with notch 6, see Figs. 1 and 2.

hen the carriage moves to its innermost position, (Figs. 1 and 2) a cam lug or roller 6 on arm 6 engages a cam piece 1 attached to the adjacent way 1 and rocks the compound lever so as to move friction gear 6 away from roller 5 and causes arm 6 to move until notch 6 is engaged by roller 6; which will then lock the compound lever and hold the friction gear 6 out of contact with roller 5.

The third arm 6 of the compound lever projects rearwardly and carries a roller 6 which is adapted, when the carriage moves to its outermost position, to engage a cam 1 attached to the adjacent way 1 in such position as to rock arm 6 upward, thereby disengaging notch 6 from roller 6, and swing ing arm 6 upward so as to move friction gear 6 into engagement with roller 5 so that upon-the return movement of the carriage the roll-er 5 will be rotated in a direction opposite to that of the movement of the carriage. The friction gear 6 is then held in engagement with roller 5 by the action of the spring 6 which forces roller 6 to ride upon the upper surface of the arm 6 of the compound lever 6, 6, 6* (see Fig. 4).

The parts are so arranged that when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke (Figs. 1 and 2) the rollers 5 are held out of contact with the rollers 5 by means of cam 1; and the friction gear 6 is moved away from roller 5 by the action of cam 1 as described, and held out of engagement therewith by roller 6 engaging notch 6 in arm 6 as described.

As or when the forward edge of a sheet catches up with the carriage and comes to and over the roller 5, the carriage starts outward, and the rollers 5 are lowered upon roller 5 and nip the sheet, the roller 5 however is not rotated and consequently the sheet is merely gripped by the rollers 5, 5 during the outward movement of the carriage.

When the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke, roller 6 engages cam l and shifts compound lever 6, 6, 6 so as to throw friction gear 6 into engagement with roller 5 and during the return movement of the carriage the gear 6 is held in engagement with roller 5 by the roller 6 pressing down on the arm 6 as above described, see Fig. 1. During this return movement of the carriage, roller 5 is rotated and causes the sheet S of paper to practically stand still,- that is the sheet will not return with the fly sticks, but the latter will slip out from under the sheet as the latter is fed off the carriage, by the rotating rollers 5, 5 which practically operate to positively deliver the sheet from the carriage as the latter is moved inward. In other words the rollers 5, 5 act as nippers or grippers to hold and draw the sheet outward with the carriage; and then act as delivery rollers to feed the sheet off the carriage as the carriage moves inward; then the sheet will be dropped neatly upon the delivery table D during the inward stroke of the carriage. Of course the invention is not restricted to the particular construction and arrangement of cams and devices for operating the roller 5 shown and described, as the principle of the invention being understood, the details of its construction could be readily varied by any skilled mechanic.

The carriage may be reciprocated back and forth by any suitable means but I pre fer to use the novel means shown, which is as follows: Upon one end of the shaft 3 is a gear 3 which meshes with a rack bar 3 to the lower end of which is attached a cross head 3 having a horizontal slot 8 This bar 3 may be guided in suitableways, as by brackets f attached to the frame. The

slot 3) is engaged by a roller 7" on a pin 7*" tween the gears 7, 7 a vertical run of the chain 7 between the gears-7 7 and an in clined' run of the chain between the gears 7 7. The pin 7 follows the run of the chain, and in passing from the gear 7 to the gear 7 on the vertical run of the chain it will raise the rack bar 3 quickly and evenly, and thereby imparts a practically uniform motion to the delivery carriage during the outward movement thereof.

As the carriage nears the end of its outer stroke, it is slowed down while pin 7 a passes over the gear 7 and the carriage is then started inward, and returns at a practically uniform but slower speed, while the pin 7 is passing from gear 7 to gear7 and the carriage is brought to a stop at the end of its inward movement while the pin 7 is passing around and under gear 7 and during the time that the pin is moving from gear 7 to gear 7 the rack bar is stationary and no motion is imparted to the carriage until the pin 7 reaches the ascending side of gear 7 The chain may be traveled in various ways; as shown gear 7 is keyed to a shaft 8, on which is a pinion 8 meshing with a pinion 8* on a shaft 8 carrying a bevel gear 8 meshing with a bevel gear 8 on a counter-shaft 8 which may be driven from any suitable part of the machine to which the invention is applied.

Operation: The sheet is delivered from the printing or impression cylinder to the tapes T T, which are ordinarily traveled at the speed of the periphery of the impression cylinder. As the forward end of the sheet emerges from the tapes the carriage begins to move outward and by the time that the forward edge of the sheet comes in position to be nipped between rollers 5 5 the carriage is moving outward at the same speed as the sheet. The rollers 5 then drop and nip the sheet against the roller 5 which is not then rotating, and these rollers then continue to draw the sheet outward, and the sticks 49 support the sheet as it passes fro-m the tapes T, T. The rollers 5 5 hold the sheet during the outward movement of the carriage, and the sheet is brought out over the delivery table 1) by the movement of the carriage, and not by any feeding action of the rollers 5*, 5 When the carriage reaches the extreme outward end of its movement (Fig. 4) the cam l causes compound lever 6 6 6 to move friction gear 6 into e11- gagement with roller 5 and the same are held in engagement by the roller 6 pressing on arm 6 and during the return movement of the carriage the roller 5" is driven and the rollers 5 5 feed the sheet ofi the end of the carriage as rapidly as the carriage moves inward, so that the carriage simply slips from beneath the sheet, which latter practically stands still and is not returned with the carriage; but drops upon the delivery table D. The carriage is moved inward more slowly than it is moved outward, as it is moved inward during the lowering of rack bar 3 under the action of pin 7 moving on the inclined run of the chain between gears 7 and 7 and thus the sheet may be dropped from the carriage more slowly than it is brought outward. The carriage comes to a rest during the time that the pin '7 is traveling from gear 7 to gear 7 which gives the sheet time to drop out of the way before the next outward stroke of the carriage commences. Thus the sheets may be brought over the delivery table at the full surface speed of the cylinder and then dropped thereon slowly; and the carriage is caused to stop long enough to allow a sheet to settle on the pile, before the carriage starts outward over the pile, and the carriage will not hit the dropped sheet on its next outward movement with the succeeding sheet.

What I claim is:

1. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a reciprocating carriage, upper and lower sheet engaging rollers thereon, means for causing these rollers to nip and hold a sheet as the carriage starts outward; a cam for separating the rollers as the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke; and frictional driving means for rotating the rollers during the inward movement of the carriage; means for disengaging the driving means when the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke, and means for reengaging the driving means when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke; with means for moving the carriage outwardly at fast speed and for moving it inwardly at a slow speed.

2. A sheet delivery mechanism comprising a reciprocating carriage, a pair of sheet engaging rollers thereon, means for separating these rollers when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke, frictionally driven means for driving these rollers; means for disengaging the driving means from the rollers when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke and for holding the driving means disengaged therefrom during the outward. stroke of the carriage; means for engaging the driving means with the rollers when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke and for keeping the driving means in operative engagement with the rollers during the return stroke of the carriage; with means for moving the carriage outwardly at fast speed, and for moving it inwardly at a slower speed.

3. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a carriage, a pair of sheet engaging rollers thereon, means for separating these rollers when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke; means for driving these rollers; a cam and devices for disengaging the driving means from the rollers when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke and for holding the driving means so disengaged during the outward stroke of the carriage; a cam and devices for engaging the driving means with the rollers when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke, and means for keeping the driving means so engaged during the return stroke of the carriage; with means for moving the carriage outwardly at the speed of the press tapes; and means for moving the carriage inwardly at a slower speed.

4. In sheet delivery mechanism, the combination of a carriage, a delivery roller journaled therein, a rock shaft beside the delivery roller, rollers supported by said shaft adapted to engage the delivery roller; a gear connected with said shaft; means for driving said gear as the carriage is recipro cated; means for throwing said gear into engagement with the delivery roller when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke; means for holding the gear in engagement with the delivery roller during the return movement of the carriage; means for throwing the friction roller out of engagement with the delivery roller when the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke, a lever connected with said shaft; and a spring actuated rod adapted to engage said lever to hold the gear out of contact with the delivery roll during the outward movement of the carriage, and to also hold said gear in engagement with said delivery roller dur ing the inward movement of said carriage.

5. In combination with reciprocating sheet delivering devices, an oscillatory shaft and gearing for operating said devices, a gear on said shaft, and a reciprocating rack bar engaging said gear; with a slotted head on said rack bar, an endless chain beside said bar, pulleys supporting said chain, and a pin on said chain engaging the slot in said head.

6. In a sheet delivery; the combination of a sheet delivery device, an oscillatory shaft and gearing for reciprocating said device, and a gear on said shaft; with a reciprocating rack bar engaging said gear, a slotted head on said rack bar, an endless chain beside said bar running in an angular path, sprockets supporting said chain, and a pin on said chain engaging the slot in the bar to reciprocate the latter.

7 In sheet delivery mechanism, the combination of a delivery mechanism, an oscillatory shaft and connections for reciprocating said mechanism, a gear on'said shaft, a reciprocating rack bar engaging said gear, and a slotted head on said rack bar; with a triangularly disposed set of sprocket gears beside the bar, a chain running over said gears, and'a pin connected with said chain engaging the slot in the bar.

8. In sheet delivery mechanism the combination of a receiving table, a reciprocating delivery mechanism adapted to transfer sheets from the press tapes to and over the receiving table, means for moving said delivery mechanism, outward at one speed, and inward at a slower speed and for causing the delivery mechanism to dwell at the inner end of its stroke until the sheet is dropped.

9. Sheet delivery mechanism, comprising a reciprocating carriage, adapted to carry a sheet forward as the carriage moves outward, and means to feed the sheet off the carriage as the carriage moves inward; with means for moving the carriage outward at one speed, and inwardat a slower speed and causing the carriage to dwell at the inner end of its stroke to allow the sheet to drop before the carriage again moves outward.

10. Sheet delivery mechanism, comprising a reciprocating carriage adapted to carry a sheet forward as the carriage moves outward, rollers on the carriage adapted to feed the sheet ofi the carriage as the carriage moves inward; with means for moving the carriage outward at fast and inward at slow speed and causing the carriage to dwell at the inner end of its stroke to allow the sheet to drop before the carriage again moves outward.

11. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a reciprocating carriage, co-acting rollers thereon adapted to nip a sheet and draw it forward as the carriage moves outward, said rollers not rotating as the carriage moves outward; means for rotating the rollers as the carriage moves inward so as to feed the sheet off the carriage; and means for moving the carriage outwardly at fast speed and inwardly at slower speed and causing the carriage to dwell at the inner end of its stroke to give the sheet time to drop.

12. In sheet delivery mechanism, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, co-acting rollers thereon adapted to nip a sheet and draw it forward as the carriage moves outward, and frictional driving means for rotating the rollers as the carriage moves inward so as to feed the. sheet ofi the carriage; with means for moving the carriage outwardly at fast speed and inwardly at slow speed and causing the carriage to dwell at the inner end of its stroke to give the sheet time to drop.

13. In combination a reciprocating carriage, a delivery roller thereon, an oscillating lever, a gear mounted on said lever adapted to engage said roller, means for rotating this gear as the carriage is reciprocated, means engaging said lever at the inner end of its stroke to throw the gear out of engagement with the delivery roller, means engaging said lever at the outer end of its stroke to throw the gear into engagement with said roller, and means for holding the lever in either position.

14:. In a sheet delivery mechanism the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a delivery roller thereon, an oscillating lever, a frictional gear mounted on said lever, means for rotating this gear as the carriage is reciprocated, a cam adapted to engage said lever at the inner end of its stroke to throw the gear out of engagement with the delivery roller, and a cam adapted to engage said lever at the outer end of its stroke to throw the gear into engagement with said roller; and means for holding the lever in adjusted position when moving between the cams.

15. In combination a reciprocating carriage, a delivery roller thereon, an oscillating lever, a gear mounted on said lever adapted to engage said roller, means for rotating said gear as the carriage is reciprocated, means engaging said .lever at the inner end of its stroke to throw the gear out of engagement with the delivery roller, and means engaging said lever at the outer end of its stroke to throw the gear into engagement with said roller; with a cam arm on the lever, and a member adapted to engage said arm to hold the lever in either position.

16. In a sheet delivery mechanism the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a delivery roller thereon, an oscillating lever, a frictional gear mounted on said lever and adapted to engage the roller, means for rotating this gear as the carriage is reciprocated, a cam engaging said lever at the inner end of its stroke to throw the gear out of engagement with the delivery roller, a cam engaging said lever at the outer end of its stroke to throw the gear into engagement with said roller, and means for locking the lever in either adjusted position when moving between the cams, said means comprising a cam arm on the lever and a spring pressed member adapted to engage said arm to hold the lever in either of its adjusted positions.

17. In sheet delivery mechanism for print ing presses, the combination of a reciprocating delivery mechanism adapted to transfer the printed sheets to the point of deposit; with means for moving said delivery mechanism at one speed when transferring a sheet, and at a slower speed when dropping the sheet.

18. In sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a reciprocating delivery mechanism adapted to transfer the printed sheets to the point of deposit; with means for moving said delivery mechanism outward when transferring a sheet at the speed at which the sheets are delivered from the press cylinder, and for moving the said mechanism inward at a slower speed when dropping the sheets.

19. In sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a reciprocating delivery mechanism adapted to transfer the printed sheets to the delivery point; with means for moving said delivery mechanism outward at one uniform speed during the transfer of a sheet, and for moving the delivery mechanism inward at a slower uniform speed during the dropping of the sheet.

20. In sheet delivery mechanism; the com bination of a reciprocating carriage, a roller thereon, mechanism for actuating said roller, and a locking device adapted to hold the actuating mechanism in engagement with the roller as the carriwe moves in one direction and to hold it disengaged when the carriage moves in the opposite direction.

21. In a sheet delivery mechanism, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a roller thereon, means permitting said roller to remain idle during one stroke of the carriage and to rotate during the other stroke of the carriage, and a spring actuated device adapted to hold said means in both active and inactive positions.

22. In combination with a reciprocating carriage, a roller thereon, a gear for operating said roller, means for shifting said gear into or out of roller actuating position, and a spring actuated device for holding said gear in either roller-operating position or non-roller-operating position. v

23. In sheet delivery mechanism, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, sheet engaging rollers thereon, and means to shift said rollers into contact and to separate the same; with means permitting said rollers to remain idle during one stroke of the. carriage, and to rotate during the other stroke of the carriage, and a device adapted to hold said means in both active and inactive positions.

24. In combination with a reciprocating carriage, co-acting rollers thereon, a gear for actuating said rollers, means for shifting said gear into operative position at one end of the stroke of the carriage, and for shifting it out of operative position at the other end of the stroke of the carriage, and means for rotating said gear; with a spring actuated device for holding said gear in either roller-operating position or non-roller-operating position.

25. In sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of an impression cylinder, a reciprocating delivery car riage, co-acting rollers thereon adapted to nip a sheet and draw it forward as the carriage moves outward; means for moving the carriage outwardly at the peripheral speed of the cylinder and moving it inwardly at a slower speed, and means for rotating the rollers as the carriage moves inward so as to feed the sheet off the carriage.

26. In a sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of an impression cylinder, a reciprocating delivery carriage, co-acting rollers thereon adapted to nip a sheet and draw it forward as the carriage moves outward said rollers not rotating as the carriage moves outward; means for moving the carriage outwardly at the peripheral speed of the cylinder and moving it inward at a slower speed, and means for rotating the rollers as the carriage moves inward so as to feed the sheet ofi" the carriage.

27. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a reciprocating delivery carriage, upper and lower sheet engaging rollers thereon, means for causing these rollers to nip and hold a sheet as the carriage starts outward; means for separating the rollers as the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke; and frictional driving means for rotating the rollers during the inward movement of the carriage; means for disengaging the driving means when the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke, and means for reengaging the frictional driving means when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke.

28. In sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses; the combination of an impression cylinder, a reciprocating delivery carriage, upper and lower sheet engaging rollers thereon, means for separating the rollers as the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke, and causing them to nip a sheet as the carriage starts outward,the rollers not rotating during the outward movement of the sheet,-and frictional driving means for rotating the rollers during the inward movement of the carriage; with means for disengaging the rollers from the driving means when the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke, and means for reengaging the rollers with the driving means when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke.

29. A sheet delivery mechanism, comprising a reciprocating delivery carriage, a pair of sheet engaging rollers thereon, a fixed cam and devices for separating these rollers when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke, means for driving these rollers; means for disengaging the driving means from the rollers when the carriage is at the inner end of its stroke and for holding the driving means disengaged therefrom during the outward stroke of the carriage; a fixed cam and devices for engaging the driving means with the rollers ,when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke, and means for keeping the driving means in operative engagement with the rollers during the return stroke of the carriage.

30. Sheet delivery mechanism, comprising a reciprocating carriage, a delivery roller journaled therein, a set of rollers adapted to co-act with the delivery roller; a movable friction gear adapted to engage and drive the delivery roller in one position, means for driving said gear in alternate directions as the carriage is reciprocated, means for throwing said gear into engagement with the delivery roller when the carriage reaches the outer end of its stroke; means for holding the said gear in engagement with the delivery roller during the return movement of the carriage; and means for throwing the gear out of engagement with the delivery roller when the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke.

31. In a sheet delivery mechanism, the combination of a reciprocating carriage; delivery rollers mounted therein; a friction gear movably mounted in the carriage; means for driving said friction gear alternately in opposite directions as the carriage is reciprocated; means for causing said friction gear to engage one of the delivery rollers when the carriage reaches the outer end if its stroke; and means for moving the friction gear out of engagement with the delivery roller when the carriage reaches the inner end of its stroke, with means for holding the friction gear either in engagement with the delivery roller or out of engagement therewith.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL ANDREW DROITCOUR.

Witnesses:

PERCY G. SHAW, JOHN C. Gnnsrnr'rnn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

